Charles Brehm
Encyclopedia
Charles F. Brehm was a witness to the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy
. He watched the Presidential motorcade from Dealey Plaza
, in Dallas, Texas
on November 22, 1963. Brehm was a World War II
veteran who served in the United States Army Rangers
, and fought on D-Day
. He later served in the Korean War
. The location of a deposition given by Brehm on November 24, 1963 is unknown. Brehm was not called to testify before the Warren Commission
.
and the Dealey Plaza grassy knoll. Both Brehm and Joe can be clearly seen in the Zapruder film
.http://www.assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/z285.jpg
When the Presidential limousine turned from Main Street onto Houston Street, Brehm and his son watched from the northwest side of the intersection. After watching the turn, Brehm and his son quickly ran northwestward across the "north infield grass" towards the south curb of Elm Street. They hoped to catch another glimpse of the President. They were standing close to the south curb, directly across the street from Bill and Gayle Newman and their two boys. The location was about 20' northeast from close assassination witnesses Jean Hill
, and Mary Moorman
, as the limousine rounded the 120-degree slow turn from Houston Street onto Elm Street. The movie filming "babushka lady
" was standing nearby to Brehm's right backside.
Brehm stated to the FBI that he could see the President's face very well, the President was seated, but was leaning forward when he stiffened perceptibly. He seemed to stiffen and come to a pause. The first shot Brehm remembered hearing was also the first shot that impacted the President. The President reacted immediately to the impact.
When the President was 15' to 25' away, just passed Brehm's location, Brehm remembered hearing a second shot that struck President Kennedy in the head. Brehm watched the President's hair fly up, ripple, and bits of brain and bone went flying, and then roll over to his side. President Kennedy slumped all the way down.
while speaking of the blood cloud and the bits of brain and bone matter that Brehm saw flying in the air when the President's head exploded, Brehm stated he was specifically attracted to watch a piece fly towards himself, "over in the area of the curb where I was standing." ... "It seemed to have come left, and back." ... "Sir, whatever it was that I saw did fall, both, in that direction, and, over into the curb there."
Charles Brehm was located behind, and to the President's left when the President's head first exploded.
On November 22, 1963 only minutes after the assassination, and while still standing within Dealey Plaza, Brehm was quoted by a newspaper reporter as saying that Brehm, "seemed to think the shots came from in front of, or, beside the President."
In his November 24, 1963 FBI statement, and, during the 1987 Showtime cable-tv mock trial, The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, Brehm testified that the shots came from either the Texas School Book Depository
or the Dal-Tex building
.
Mark Lane (author)
told Playboy Magazine in 1967 that he interviewed Brehm on film. Brehm told Lane that part of the President's skull was driven back and and sharply left, exiting over the rear of the Presidential limousine. Lane elaborated, stating that according to the laws of physics, this confirms the opinion of those who believe the shot came from the right front of the car, opposite the direction of the Texas Book Depository.
Like many other supporting witnesses, Brehm stated that he distinctly remembered hearing another separate shot after the shot which wounded the President's head. The latter shot missed hitting anyone and was the reason that Brehm quickly dragged his son to the ground, covering him protectively.
In 1988 Brehm told author Larry Sneed, "After the car passed the building coming toward us, I heard a . . . surprising noise, and (the President) reached with both hands up to the side of his throat and kind of stiffened out . . . And when he got down in the area just past me, the second shot hit which damaged, considerably damaged, the top of his head. . . . That car took off in an evasive motion . . . and was just beyond me when a third shot went off. The third shot really frightened me! It had a completely different sound to it because it had really passed me as anybody knows who has been in down under targets in the Army or been shot at like I had been many times. You know when a bullet passes over you, the cracking sound it makes, and that bullet had an absolute
crack to it. I do believe that that (third) shot was wild. It didn't hit anybody. I don't think it could have hit anybody. But it was a frightening thing to me because
here was one shot that hit him, obviously; here was another shot that destroyed his head, and what was the reason for that third shot? That third shot frightened me more than the other two, and I grabbed the boy and threw him on the ground because I didn't know if we were going to have a 'shoot-'em-up' in this area."
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. He watched the Presidential motorcade from Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza , in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas , is the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
, in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
on November 22, 1963. Brehm was a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran who served in the United States Army Rangers
United States Army Rangers
United States Army Rangers are elite members of the United States Army. Rangers have served in recognized U.S. Army Ranger units or have graduated from the U.S. Army's Ranger School...
, and fought on D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. He later served in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. The location of a deposition given by Brehm on November 24, 1963 is unknown. Brehm was not called to testify before the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
.
Watched presidential motorcade with his son
Charles F. Brehm and his 5-year-old son, Joe, were standing in the Dealey Plaza north infield grass, a few feet south of the south curb of Elm Street. They were across the street from Abraham ZapruderAbraham Zapruder
Abraham Zapruder was an American manufacturer of women's clothing. He was filming with a home-movie camera as U.S. President John F...
and the Dealey Plaza grassy knoll. Both Brehm and Joe can be clearly seen in the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
.http://www.assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/z285.jpg
When the Presidential limousine turned from Main Street onto Houston Street, Brehm and his son watched from the northwest side of the intersection. After watching the turn, Brehm and his son quickly ran northwestward across the "north infield grass" towards the south curb of Elm Street. They hoped to catch another glimpse of the President. They were standing close to the south curb, directly across the street from Bill and Gayle Newman and their two boys. The location was about 20' northeast from close assassination witnesses Jean Hill
Jean Hill
Norma Jean Lollis Hill was a witness to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. She was known as the "Lady in Red" because of the long red rain coat she wore that day, as seen in the Zapruder Film...
, and Mary Moorman
Mary Moorman
Mary Ann Moorman was a witness to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. She is best known for her photograph capturing the presidential limousine a fraction of a second after the fatal shot.-Biography:...
, as the limousine rounded the 120-degree slow turn from Houston Street onto Elm Street. The movie filming "babushka lady
Babushka lady
In the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Babushka Lady is a nickname for an unknown woman who might have photographed the events that occurred in Dallas' Dealey Plaza at the time President John F. Kennedy was shot...
" was standing nearby to Brehm's right backside.
Description of shots which wounded and killed JFK
Brehm said President Kennedy was approaching him, and was only 30' away, when his son began to wave to President Kennedy. President Kennedy started to wave back, then Brehm heard the first shot he remembered hearing. Kennedy did not start waving until Zapruder film frame Z-171, which was after live oak tree branches and foliage had already temporarily hidden the President from Z-162 to Z-208 from being seen by anyone in the Texas School Book Depository's sixth-floor window.Brehm stated to the FBI that he could see the President's face very well, the President was seated, but was leaning forward when he stiffened perceptibly. He seemed to stiffen and come to a pause. The first shot Brehm remembered hearing was also the first shot that impacted the President. The President reacted immediately to the impact.
When the President was 15' to 25' away, just passed Brehm's location, Brehm remembered hearing a second shot that struck President Kennedy in the head. Brehm watched the President's hair fly up, ripple, and bits of brain and bone went flying, and then roll over to his side. President Kennedy slumped all the way down.
Contributions to assassination documentaries
In the 1966 video documentary Rush to JudgmentRush to Judgment
Rush to Judgment is a book by American lawyer Mark Lane. It is about the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and takes issue with the conclusions of the Warren Commission, suggesting there was a conspiracy to assassinate John F...
while speaking of the blood cloud and the bits of brain and bone matter that Brehm saw flying in the air when the President's head exploded, Brehm stated he was specifically attracted to watch a piece fly towards himself, "over in the area of the curb where I was standing." ... "It seemed to have come left, and back." ... "Sir, whatever it was that I saw did fall, both, in that direction, and, over into the curb there."
Charles Brehm was located behind, and to the President's left when the President's head first exploded.
On November 22, 1963 only minutes after the assassination, and while still standing within Dealey Plaza, Brehm was quoted by a newspaper reporter as saying that Brehm, "seemed to think the shots came from in front of, or, beside the President."
In his November 24, 1963 FBI statement, and, during the 1987 Showtime cable-tv mock trial, The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, Brehm testified that the shots came from either the Texas School Book Depository
Texas School Book Depository
The Texas School Book Depository is the former name of a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas . Located on the northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas, its address is 411 Elm Street. The building is notable for its connection to...
or the Dal-Tex building
Dal-Tex Building
The Dal-Tex Building is a seven story office building located at 501 Elm Street in downtown Dallas, Texas . Its location, within Dealey Plaza and it being across the street, adjacent to the Texas School Book Depository, has made it famous and put it at the center of several conspiracy theories...
.
Mark Lane (author)
Mark Lane (author)
Mark Lane is an American lawyer who has written many books, including Rush to Judgment, one of two major books published in the immediate wake of the John F. Kennedy assassination that questioned the conclusions of the Warren Commission. Another book, Plausible Denial, published in 1991, continued...
told Playboy Magazine in 1967 that he interviewed Brehm on film. Brehm told Lane that part of the President's skull was driven back and and sharply left, exiting over the rear of the Presidential limousine. Lane elaborated, stating that according to the laws of physics, this confirms the opinion of those who believe the shot came from the right front of the car, opposite the direction of the Texas Book Depository.
Like many other supporting witnesses, Brehm stated that he distinctly remembered hearing another separate shot after the shot which wounded the President's head. The latter shot missed hitting anyone and was the reason that Brehm quickly dragged his son to the ground, covering him protectively.
In 1988 Brehm told author Larry Sneed, "After the car passed the building coming toward us, I heard a . . . surprising noise, and (the President) reached with both hands up to the side of his throat and kind of stiffened out . . . And when he got down in the area just past me, the second shot hit which damaged, considerably damaged, the top of his head. . . . That car took off in an evasive motion . . . and was just beyond me when a third shot went off. The third shot really frightened me! It had a completely different sound to it because it had really passed me as anybody knows who has been in down under targets in the Army or been shot at like I had been many times. You know when a bullet passes over you, the cracking sound it makes, and that bullet had an absolute
crack to it. I do believe that that (third) shot was wild. It didn't hit anybody. I don't think it could have hit anybody. But it was a frightening thing to me because
here was one shot that hit him, obviously; here was another shot that destroyed his head, and what was the reason for that third shot? That third shot frightened me more than the other two, and I grabbed the boy and threw him on the ground because I didn't know if we were going to have a 'shoot-'em-up' in this area."